"Hm? Who… who's asking?"
Eren awoke from his slumber and responded to the white-haired girl with a question of his own. He sat up in his chair and looked around, disoriented.
"And where am I? This... doesn't look like the right place to be.... woah!"
It was unclear if the chair was unable to take Eren's physical load anymore or if it was hurt by his words. But it finally gave up and crumbled into various pieces. And the sole user of the wooden chair, "Lord Grimdawn", fell flat on his butt along with it.
"Damn! I knew this would happen. From now on, I should stick to Stellar Sativa whenever I'm not in a familiar setting."
Eren cursed under his breath before getting up. And only then did he pay attention to the scared-looking beauty with him in this shabby house, in the same room.
"Hm? Who are you, Miss? And are you alright?"
Eren asked while looking at the girl curiously. She had her back to a wall. Any more pressure from her and the wall would crumble. Just like his chair did. It seemed the Expert ranker girl also knew this. That's why she had stopped herself from demolishing the house.
The young woman remained silent but stepped forward to prevent the wall from collapsing. She straightened her dress and fixed her hair, yet her eyes revealed that she was still intimidated by the man before her.
"Why are you afraid?" Eren inquired, closely observing the girl. He had not deliberately cast Sedating Gaze on her to make her submissive, so he could not fathom the reason behind her apparent fragility.
Eren focused his C-Rank mana and dispersed the drowsiness that had previously enveloped him. He summoned a large mass of water and disappeared into it, emerging moments later in fresh clothes. It was a trick he had learned from Agatha, akin to taking a quick bath.
"The thing is..." the girl hesitated to speak, but Eren's keen perception led him to cast an isolation barrier around them. He sensed that the girl's background was not ordinary, and the conversation they were about to have needed to be kept between them.
Eren pointed her towards the same table he had slumped over and slept on. He wanted to find out how they both ended up together in this forsaken house. He had hazy memories of the last night and needed someone to fill in the blanks for him.
The girl finally got her bearings back after taking a long, deep breath. She walked towards the table and sat on the chair opposite Eren's previous location.
The girl frowned when she looked at the drooling stain Eren had left on the table. With a flick of her fingers, she conjured white flames over the table and removed the saliva stain.
"House Lowin!"
Eren understood the girl's background as soon as she cast the white flames. The necklace around her caught his attention. It was probably an artifact that kept her bloodline energy from being detected.
Thankfully, there was another chair Eren could use. He pulled it up, placed it across from the girl on the other side of the table, and took his seat. He looked at the girl in the eye and prompted her to say something.
"Lord Grimdawn… or should I call you Expert Eren? Do I need to reintroduce myself again?"
Eren raised his eyebrows. "Again?" he asked with surprise. It was clear he didn't remember meeting this charming girl last night.
The girl sighed as if she expected something like this from Eren. She placed both her hands on the table and reclined in the chair before speaking up.
"Hello, Lord Grimdawn. It's nice to meet you… all over again. I'm Ariella Lowin.
As you might have guessed, I'm from House Lowin. And I represent my clan and the Last Blood Bastion as I speak to you."
It was clear that being a half-blood, the girl did not like Eren's title given to him by the kingdom of Edinburgh. But she knew she shouldn't pay attention to these minor inconveniences and look at the big picture.
Eren was the only half-blood in post-calamity Anfang that had not only stayed out in the open but also gained recognition from the establishments. She could understand the sheer difficulty of achieving something like this. So she respected Eren's title anyway. Especially after getting hit by his powers while the man himself was unconscious.
"Hi. Name's Eren. It's nice to meet you, Ariella Lowin. You can call me by my name. Tell me the reason for your visit. And if you could explain to me how we got here, that'd be great."
Eren said with a light smile on his face. He let his entrepreneurial side in him take over. He remembered Sirius telling him that House Lowin would soon contact him regarding their custom orders. So he could guess what Ariella was about to discuss with him regarding her business proposal.
With a look of annoyance on her face, Ariella asked Eren if he remembered her. She was offended by Eren's apparent forgetting of her completely. Eren shook his head, clueless about Ariella's identity.
Sighing, Ariella explained the events of the previous night.
It turned out that they crossed paths on Edin's abandoned streets. Ariella had planned to meet Eren outside his villa anyway because she knew his place would be under surveillance by the kingdom's forces. So she tried to turn this impromptu meeting into a business meeting.
However, Eren was too preoccupied with getting drunk and forced Ariella to tag along with him.
Ariella could not discuss business with Eren as he was too busy drinking and flirting with her. When it came time to pay the bill, Eren passed out, leaving Ariella to foot the bill. This left her with a huge hole in her savings.
As people inside and outside the tavern recognized Eren as Lord Grimdawn, Ariella realized they had a problem. With Eren heavily intoxicated and unconscious, Ariella had to quickly usher him out of the tavern to avoid drawing unwanted attention. Despite his state, Eren's hands had a mind of their own, groping Ariella as they left.
Ariella had to exercise immense patience as they evaded the enthusiastic pursuers and sought refuge in an abandoned house where they could be safe from other rankers.
After Ariella recounted the events of the previous night, Eren offered a hollow apology, scratching his ear with a sheepish smile that Ariella saw right through. It was clear to her that he wasn't truly sorry for the trouble he caused her.
